


A Five Alarm Spark

by tobeconspicuous



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Rafael has an addiction, a vague semblance of a plot, it's Sonny, setting off smoke alarms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeconspicuous/pseuds/tobeconspicuous
Summary: That was how Rafael found himself several weeks later in the same public bathroom with yet another aerosol can setting off yet another alarm. It had become an addiction clearly.





	A Five Alarm Spark

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be a gift for AHumanFemale, but because I can't say no to them [or Robin Hood (Kjack89)] they ended up betaing this instead. So many thanks to AHumanFemale for their wonderful support, the title, and acting as a beta for this fic. All the good bits, including the title, can be attributed to them. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
> 
> Also, don't trip fire alarms, no matter how good looking the firefighters may be. If you are caught, there is a hefty fine and a possibility of jail time.
> 
> I do not own, only enjoy them, and I hope you do to. Feedback is very much appreciated.

Rafael Barba is perfectly capable of reheating his own meals.

Yes, normally he would eat out or have Carmen heat up his leftovers but she was on a long overdue, much deserved vacation. That doesn't mean Rafael can't use a microwave, he uses his own all the time.  So what if the buttons were a little different.  They all did the same thing, it could hardly produce different results.

Different buttons, of course, didn't explain why the microwave started to spark and smoke after a couple of seconds of cooking.  Panicking and deathly embarrassed, he’d turned it off but the damage was already done.  The fire alarm had been set off, the evacuation already in progress.  The fire department was en route before he could even hide the evidence.

Rafael stood in stunned silence as the FDNY stormed the building, himself and his colleagues forced to stand and wait on the sidewalk. Eventually they spilled out looking surprisingly disappointed, their Lieutenant stepped forward, a scowl on her face. “Who here was stupid enough to put metal in the microwave?”

Rafael went pink as soon as she said those words. It wasn't entirely his fault. He had been up until three the previous morning viewing case histories and was back to work at six. Surely he could be forgiven for making a silly mistake but the colleagues who had been glaring daggers at him clearly disagreed.  One even muttered about missing Carmen.

A hand on his shoulder forced Rafael to look into a pair of kind blue eyes. The fireman in front of him was tall and blond-haired, slender even under the bulk of his suit. Rafael may have even considered him handsome if he wasn't sporting a horrifyingly tacky moustache.

“Mistakes happen,” the man said in a Staten Island drawl.

Rafael just couldn’t help himself. “Your upper lip seems to agree.”

Amusement sparked behind those blue eyes. “You’re being let off with a warning, don’t let it happen again.”

And that was that.

Rafael was certain he would never see the fireman again, except a few days later he found himself stuck in the elevator. At least he wasn’t alone, Rita had come to take him out to lunch. He wanted to discuss a plea bargain for her client, and she had wanted to snoop into his personal life.

As he sat on the floor of the elevator trying not to panic his friend rubbed soothing circles into his back. He hated confined spaces, particularly when he couldn’t escape from them. His breath was short and his chest tight until he heard the groan of the doors being wedged open and saw a familiar handsome face bathed in light smiling at him.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” the fireman crooned, the accent grating less on Rafael than it had before.

Were he not in the middle of panicking, he might have smirked.

The fireman and one of his colleagues helped Rafael scramble out of the elevator. Rafael rushed to stand and brush himself off. The deep breath he took felt cleansing and the film of fear that had covered him started to fall away.  Rita passed up their briefcases before she let the firemen help her out, her ascent far more graceful than Rafael’s own had been.

Rafael turned to the fireman, surprised to see the moustache had disappeared. “Thank you for your assistance Firefighter…”

“Carisi,” the man grabbed Rafael’s hand and shook it firmly. “Call me Sonny.”

“Thank you _Sonny_ ,” Rita’s voice was sultry, it made Rafael nervous. “Rafael and I appreciate your service.”

“Just doing my job ma’am,” Sonny continued to grin. Rafael was taken aback by just how much younger than him the man looked to be, he appeared lanky but clearly had some muscle to be able to pull Rafael out of the elevator like that-

“Come on Rafael,” Rita roughly grabbed Rafael’s arm and dragged him to the stairs. “You may want to close your mouth.”

That was enough to grab Rafael’s attention. “What?”

“Oh Rafi, he’s clearly your type.” Rita laughed as she opened the door to the fire stairs.

“He’s-”

“Gorgeous,” Rita continued. “Now are you going to ask for his number or can we go to lunch please?”

Rafael in his cowardice chose the latter. Of course he couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the handsome man in the black and yellow uniform. Maybe one day the two would cross paths again.

 

\--

 

It had been three months and Rafael still couldn’t get the attractive fireman- _Firefighter Carisi_ he mentally scolded himself- out of his mind. It didn’t help that Rita enjoyed teasing him at every opportunity about the entire elevator incident - _Your face Rafael, I’ve never seen you turn so red_. It was getting to the point that Rafael felt he needed to find a way to see the man again, and that was when he turned to an old trick from school.

He should be ashamed of himself, really.

He wasn’t.

Rafael went to the bathroom and waited until it was empty, he then climbed up onto the sink and pulled a small aerosol can of deodorant from his pocket. He aimed the can at a sprinkler and held the actuator down, releasing the spray into the air. It took thirty seconds before the sprinkler went off, followed by the alarm. Luckily the spray just missed his suit, he stepped onto the next sink before clambering back down to the floor. He quickly made his way down the fire stairs and across to the meeting point. Carmen was already standing there with his briefcase, he thanked her before plucking it from her hands.

Less than ten minutes later the familiar vehicle rounded the corner to park at their curb and the firemen all piled out of the truck and ran inside the building. Thirty minutes later all the firemen left the building, angry looks on their faces. Rafael looked for the familiar blond head of hair and was pleased when he made his way over.

“We meet again counselor,” he smiled before sticking his hand out to Carmen. “Sonny Carisi.”

Carmen took the offered hand and shook it. “Carmen Noble.”

He turned to Rafael, a soft smile gracing his features. “And will I ever get your name counselor?”

“Rafael Barba,” the name ran smoothly off Rafael’s tongue.

“Rafael,” the fireman repeated with a smile, Rafael could feel a blush creep up the back of his neck.

“Do we know how the alarm was set off?” Carmen’s soft voice broke through the moment.

“Someone must have played a prank,” Carisi broke Rafael’s stare to answer Carmen’s question. “Aerosol can over the sprinkler.  Works every time - I can’t tell you how many times we got out of tests that way back in high school.”

Rafael did not miss the look Carmen was giving him.

He refused to acknowledge it, keeping his eyes on Caris instead.

“Carisi,” a blonde lady shouted dragging the firefighter away. Carisi waved at Rafael and Carmen before jogging away, it made the prosecutor sad that the man's pants weren't tighter.

“So that's _your_ fireman,” Carmen raised a single eyebrow, she failed to hide the amusement in her voice.

Rafael sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Remind me never to leave you and Rita alone again.”

 

\--

 

A week later Rafael was at it again, this time he “accidentally” overcooked an old meal in the microwave. He was never going to eat the food which had been sitting untouched in his refrigerator for a week, at least this way it was helping Rafael’s cause. Of ogling hot firemen.

Carisi of course was the first to the scene, took one look at Rafael’s blackened food and shook his head. “Maybe you shouldn't use a microwave counsellor.”

Rafael felt himself go bright red before he made a hasty exit, maybe it wasn't worth the effort. Then Carisi bent over to pick something up and Rafael’s soul searching was cut short. An ass like that was definitely worth the effort.

 

\--

 

That was how Rafael found himself several weeks later in the same public bathroom with yet another aerosol can setting off yet another alarm. It had become an addiction clearly.

As he stood on the sidewalk with Carmen and Rita both shooting him judgemental looks he pointedly ignored he thought that maybe he should probably stop. Rita in particular, as her expression was especially murderous.

But then Carisi walked over, said hi, patted Rafael on the shoulder and made his stomach flip. All he could do was plan how the hell he would set off yet another fire alarm without getting caught.

 

\--

 

This time it was actually an accident.

Rafael just wanted to quickly heat up his dinner, instead the microwave literally caught on fire. He tried to put it out which only made things worse, luckily the night watchman managed to pull him out of the kitchen before Rafael himself started to burn. As he sat outside 1 Hogan place in the cold night air he couldn't help but scold himself.

“You know when I said you shouldn't use a microwave I was only joking,” Carisi’s familiar Staten Island drawl rolled over Rafael like a wave. “But maybe it’s something you should consider, clearly they’re a threat to your safety.”

Rafael rolled his eyes at the man’s attempt at humour. “I have no issues handling my microwave at home.”

“Well if you wanted my number counsellor all you had to do was ask,” Carisi winked at him before walking away leaving Rafael to be looked after by the EMT.

Maybe next time, Rafael thought to himself, he would just do that.

 

\--

 

Rafael was out of ideas that day, now that they were monitoring the public restrooms there was no way he would be able to get away with the aerosol can trick again. He was desperate, he hadn’t seen Carisi for almost a month, hadn’t heard his familiar drawl, seen his kind eyes. What had started off as a simple infatuation had grown into an obsession.

Fortunately he didn’t have to find a way to trigger an alarm, something out there was clearly looking out for him. At quarter to four the building was evacuated and once again he and Carmen were left standing on the sidewalk. They chatted amicably as they watched the fire engine arrive and the firefighters jump out. Unfortunately for Rafael, Carisi’s familiar blond hair was nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe next time Mr. Barba,” Carmen’s voice held no hint of condescension or mockery, just genuine empathy. The woman was too smart for her own good and Rafael was once more reminded why she deserved a nice christmas bonus.

Rafael nodded at her before advising her of his plans. “I’m going to head to Forlini’s, try and get some actual work done.”

“I’ll let you know when they let us back in,” Carmen offered.

“Don’t bother,” Rafael was tired, and Carmen worked too hard already. “Take the rest of the day off.”

“Thank you Mr. Barba,” Carmen replied with a warm smile.

Rafael nodded once more before he turned and headed towards the restaurant. If he hadn’t been paying attention he would have walked directly into a blonde woman with a scowl on her face. “He’s off work today.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Carisi is off work,” she was clearly frustrated. “He’s the reason why the DA’s office has had a significant increase in false alarms recently right?”

She gave Rafael a knowing look.

He attempted to brush her off. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her entire body rolled with an overly exaggerated sigh. “Look, Carisi asked me to give you this if you were looking for him.” She passed him a small piece of card with a location, a day and time on it. “He’s expecting you.”

“I-”

“If you break his heart you’ll have the entire FDNY after you, so I suggest you meet him there,” she finished, her tone leaving no room for discussion.  

Rafael pocketed the card and nodded. He turned and walked away, the beginning of a smile began to creep across his face.

He had a date with a fireman on Friday.

 

\--

 

Court had run long and as a result Rafael was late meeting the fireman, he didn't even have time to change out of his work suit. He entered the bar flustered and in desperate need for a drink. Carisi was sitting at the long wooden bar, fitted jeans hugged his slim legs and accented a perfect backside. The grey shirt he was wearing made his stunning blue eyes pop, the man made Rafael’s breath catch in his chest.

Unfortunately Carisi had attracted another admirer, the young man was looking clearly uncomfortable as an older man with greying hair pushed up against him. He watched as the fireman shoved the other man away from him Rafael took a deep breath and sauntered over to them.

He wrapped his arms around Carisi’s thick waist and pressed a kiss against the back of his shoulder. “Hey, babe.”

The fireman spun around, his face lighting up when he saw Rafael. Carisi grabbed the shorter man's face and brushed his lips gently against Rafael’s. The tender moment didn’t last long, the man who was trying to intimidate Carisi stared at them, mouth open in disbelief.

“Excuse me sir,” Rafael kept his tone cool. “Were you attempting to assault my boyfriend?”

The man continued to stare dumbly. “Boyfriend?”

“It’s fine Rafael, let's get you a drink.” Carisi dismissed the man before he grabbed Rafael’s hand and lead him to the bar.

Rafael ordered a himself a scotch and watched as the man shook his head and walked out of the bar. He turned to the fireman with a smile, “Sorry about that.”

Carisi let out a gentle chuckle. “Why are you apologising? Thanks for the rescue.”

Rafael smirked as his scotch arrived, he raised the glass. “Well after you gallantly pulled me from the elevator-”

“And several microwaves,” Carisi’s smile grew wider.

“And several microwaves,” Rafael conceded, raising a single eyebrow.

Carisi continued, his voice growing more confident. “I was hoping we could save more microwaves from destruction at your hands.”

“Oh?”

Rafael watched as a blush crept up the younger mans neck. “I’d like to cook for you sometime.”

Rafael’s face broke into a smile.

“I’d like that.” He took a sip of his scotch, enjoying the dark burn of it on his tongue just as much as the bashful expression on his fireman’s face. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Carisi.”

This time it was Carisi’s turn to smile.

“Please, call me Sonny.”


End file.
